Rolls up a gear to leave Mansfield standing

Sports Reporter

Three quick Rolls Royce tries leading up to half-time set the Derbyshire outfit on a path that visiting Mansfield RUFC could not find an answer to in a 37-15 victory.

Searching for positives, coach Wayne Robinson said: “There were aspects of our play that were really good but we need to be more consistent throughout.

“Joe Ducker had a fine game and really impressed when we got the ball to him.”

A penalty apiece after 15 minutes was all that separated the sides and it looked at that stage as though a keenly contested game was on the cards.

With 18 minutes played Mansfield broke the deadlock with an excellent try following some great work from veteran Bruce Arnold.

The ball found its way to winger Joe Ducker, who had plenty to do. He rounded the first defender, stepped inside two more to crash though another and then outpaced the fifth would-be tackler making his way to the line, providing the highlight of the afternoon for the travelling support.

Rolls Royce were not to be outdone and struck back with a perfectly executed catch and drive try just two minutes later.

The home side then dominated the next 10 minutes with two more impressively taken tries and effectively ended the game as a contest.

With the score at 20-8 Mansfield found their way over the line one more time at the end of the third quarter as John Ross Ward put in a perfectly weighted cross kick to find Joe Ducker on the other end, rounding off an excellent afternoon for him with his brace.

A sweetly struck conversion from the touchline proved to be the final score of the game for Mansfield as the rest of the half belonged to Rolls Royce.

A further try three minutes later sealed the visitor’s fate and as tired legs could not get across to cover, the home side posted two more tries in the final minutes to secure an impressive and well deserved victory much to the delight of the home support.

Mansfield take a break this weekend to make way for the national cup fixtures but resume league action on Saturday, 10th December when they host Ashby RFC (2.15pm).